All That Matters
by Drink Sparky Cola
Summary: I didn't like the ending to The Fast and the Furious. So I rewrote it.


All That Matters  
Alternate Ending to: The Fast and the Furious  
  
By Karebear  
  
Summary: I didn't like the ending to The Fast and the Furious. So I rewrote it. Just the last five minutes though.  
  
  
"I still owe you a ten second car."  
And there they were, dangling from Brian's hand like gemstones, expensive, once out-of-his-reach gemstones that were now being handed to him on a silver platter-- the keys to the Supra, Brian's car. The drone of police sirens was wailing in the distance and the escape route was only inches away from his fingers, given to him by a cop-- a COP, but there they were nonetheless. Dominic Toretto hesitated, took a deep breath, then reached out and grabbed the keys with his good arm.  
Brian O'Conner smiled. It was the brief, relieved kind of silly grin that made it look like Brian thought Dom had forgiven him but Dom had not yet reached that point. He wanted to tell Brian that it wasn't that simple, that he hadn't forgiven him yet for what he'd done. Dom had invited the man into his house, into his LIFE and all this time he'd been a friggin' cop. He repaid Dom's kindness and trust by admitting he was a cop. No, Brian wasn't forgiven yet, but he was trying, and it was a start.  
"Aren't you gonna go? The cops are gonna be here soon Dom, you'd better jet." Brian jerked his hand at his car behind him.  
Dom didn't move, not even to look at the car. He just stared at a non-existant point in the far-off distance. Yes, O'Conner, Spilner, whatever his name was, has lied to Dom, to all of them; he had been trying to bring them down and bust them... yet here he was, relinquishing his career, his life's work... for Dom. He may have been a liar, but he was a good person doing the right thing, and he knew where his own loyalties lied. Brian wasn't playing any trick on him, he was actually risking losing his job to help Dom, someone who should by all rights be in jail. This just wasn't right.  
Dom considered all he has been through these past few weeks, all the people that has been hurt by it-- Vince, Letty, Jesse... If he was to bolt now, would he ever see his friends again? Make sure they were OK? Those few weeks had left an imprint in his character. A month, no, a WEEK ago, Dom would have taken the chance to run from the police in an instant. He would have done anything to avoid going back to jail. But now, after everything that had happened... it just didn't seem to be as huge of a threat anymore.  
And in that instant, Dom decided what his fate would be. He glanced down at the set of keys in his hand... and tossed them back to Brian. The confused young man caught them with both hands, not able to hide his perplexity. "Dom...?"  
"You can keep your 10-second car." Dom shrugged. "Save it for when I get out. Now cuff me, O'Conner Dom put his hands out in front of him.  
Brian hesitated. "Dominic... are you sure? I mean, I'm giving you a chance to bolt here. You don't have to go back to jail."  
"I know." Dom held his gaze steadily. "Thanks."  
The sirens chanting in the distance abruptly stopped as three cop cars pulled into the intersection and a couple of officers got out, crouching behind their cars with their weapons at the ready.  
"It's OK." Brian held up one hand as he began to handcuff Dom with the other one. "It's OK. Mr. Toretto is just turning himself in."  
An older officer approached Brian and Dom, gun still in his hands. "All the way out here, O'Conner We were told there was a car chase involved before the capture."  
"There was. Johnny Tran and his gang shot up Mr. Toretto's house. Dominic was helping me catch them before they hurt anyone else." Brian told the officer.  
The man glanced sideways at Brian with the air of someone who obviously knew they were being fed a line of BS but he didn't say anything aloud. He pushed Dom up against his ruined car, checking him for weapons. "Yeah, we followed your... trail here. Mind telling us what happened?"  
Brian ignored his question. "That's not important right now. I need you to send an ambulance to 2472 Oakland Street. There's a GSW there in need of immediate medical attention." Another cop nearby nodded and rushed to his cop car to radio in Brian's order as Dom snuck a look at the undercover cop, still handcuffed and pushed against the damaged hood.  
"I need to go back there O'Conner I need to see if he's OK."  
Brian nodded knowingly. "Hey, McCarthy, can we make a stop before you bring Dominic in?"  
The officer, obviously named McCarthy, wavered a moment, pondering Brian's request.  
"Please, you don't have to come with us, and I promise I won't leave Mr. Toretto unattended. He needs to get his injuries fixed up anyway, before we take him in. We can meet later at the hospital and if you get in trouble, you can blame it all on me."  
Reluctantly, McCarthy nodded. "Fine, fine. I'm putting my ass on the line here, O'Conner I hope you're judgment is right."  
Brian and Dom's eyes met silently and Dom slightly bobbed his head. So did Brian. "It'll be OK. I'll bring him in when we're done."  
"Fine, whatever. But I'm still sending a police escort with you."  
"That's fine, I wouldn't expect any less." Brian nodded graciously. McCarthy, sighing exasperatedly, undid Dom's cuffs and handed him over to Brian. The two got into Brian's Supra and were off, speeding down the empty streets with the other officer in tow.  
  
Dom's house was a chaotic disarray of police cars, stray officers, nosy neighbors, and an ambulance. Lights flashing everywhere, Brian and Dom could hardly see what was going on until they got out of the car to look around. Neighbors crowding on their porch watched the whole scene with a sickly neurotic interest but Dom ignored all of them. He instantly spotted his little sister on the sidewalk where he had left her. She was standing there all alone with her arms hugging her waist, looking frightened and cold, even though the weather should have given her no such feeling. An officer was berating her with questions but Mia Toretto wasn't listening as she watched the scene with tears streaming down her face.  
Dom immediately rushed over to her and in that instant, Mia broke out of her trance-like state and screamed his name. Dom wrapped his arms around her and held her in a tight embrace as Mia sobbed into his shoulder. Looking down on the pavement, Dom saw what his sister must have been staring at when he first saw her. The ground was soaked with dark red blood... 'Jesse's blood', Dom realized.  
He pulled away from his sister suddenly, looking into her sympathetic eyes. "You're hurt." She noticed, seeing his bloody and throbbing arm.  
"Doesn't matter, where's Jesse?" Mia's eyes misted with tears again and she looked over near the back of the ambulance where two paramedics were loading the young man into the back on a stretcher. Dom gave Mia one more quick hug to assure her that he was OK-- and that she was OK too-- and let her go, hurrying over to the stretcher.  
"How is he?" He asked the nearest paramedic.  
"Your friend has lost a lot of blood, we need to get him to a hospital right now." The medic answered gravely.  
"Is he going to live?"  
"That's up to him, but we gotta go this instant." The medic said hurriedly. Are any of you coming with us?"  
Dom looked to Mia and she nodded to him solemnly. "Its gotta be you, big bro." She choked.  
Seeing the unsure look on the medic's face, Brian stepped forward. "This man needs medical attention too, so he's going to go with you. We'll be right behind you." The paramedic nodded trustingly and got in the back. Jesse's stretcher was lifted into the cab and Dom followed instantly after.  
Mia and Brian watched the doors close, shutting them off from their family and friends, then, slowly, their eyes met. Brian winced at the hurt and betrayal in Mia's eyes, her anger stabbing him like a dagger, right into his chest. He looked away, unable to bear the pain, but managed to convince Mia to go with him to the hospital in the Supra, knowing it would be a silent ride.  
  
In the back of the ambulance, Dom sat in the corner so the paramedics could work on Jesse, listening to the unsteady beeping of the monitor they had him hooked up to. The 19 year old lay on the stretcher, his face pale and sweating. Dom took Jesse's limp hand in his own and smoothed Jesse's hair back, surprised when the young man's eyes fluttered open, looking up at Dom.  
"... Dom?" Jesse croaked, then groaned in pain.  
Dom's stomach lurched. "It's gonna be OK Jess', just hold on."  
"Dom, I'm so sorry... I-"  
"Shh, its OK, just relax." Dom interrupted, clasping Jesse's hand tighter. Jesse's breath started coming in ragged gasps and the paramedic cursed, putting an oxygen mask over Jesse's mouth to help him breathe. Up front, the driver called in to warn the hospital they were coming. Dom split his attention between comforting Jesse and listening to the driver.  
"We're bringing in a 19 year old white male, two GSWs to his abdomen and one to his right shoulder, might have punctured a lung. We need a trauma room ready the instant we get there."  
Dom returned his attention to Jesse who was looking up at Dom with severe pain in his weary eyes-- pain that, for once, Dom couldn't take away. He wanted nothing more than to make Jesse better, but his powers didn't extend that far. There was nothing he could do for the boy but continue to reassure him of his constant presence. 'Come on, Jesse, fight. Live.' Dom silently pleaded.  
But his pleas were ignored as Jesse's eyes rolled back and his eyelids fluttered once more before closing. The steady beep on the monitor morphed into a hideous droning as the line went flat...  
  
Dominic Toretto put his head in his hand and rubbed his temples ferociously. The medication that the doctors had given him for his migraine hadn't kicked in yet, but at least the morphine had. The pain in his arm, now supported by a sling, was lessened to a dull throb now, but it still hurt. Since he had gotten to the hospital almost an hour ago, he hadn't been able to see Jesse at all. He had flatlined on the way over but they had just barely been able to resuscitate him. When they got into the emergency room, Dom was ushered into a room to have his injured arm attended too and Jesse was whisked out of sight down a hall surrounded by doctors and nurses. There was a cop outside, guarding the door, Dom knew. He had ridden over here with Brian and Mia, whom he also hadn't seen since his arrival. Dom wasn't allowed to leave at all, not even to check on Jesse. He had wanted to be there for Jesse, to hold his hand again and make sure he pulled through. He was all Jesse had anymore, and he couldn't bear to think of him lying on the stiff bed all alone, looking so pale and sickly.  
As if on cue, the door to Dom's room opened and Brian stepped inside, followed immediately by Mia. Dom stood up, ignoring the rush of dizziness that came with the pain medication kicking in. "How is he?"  
Brian looked to the floor to avoid staring into Dom's eyes. Every time he looked at either of the Torettos he couldn't help but feel that this whole thing was his fault. He resolved to do whatever he could to keep the team out of jail, but that didn't mean any of them would forgive him.  
"He just got out of surgery, but he's in ICU now." Brian paused. "Dom, he's in a coma." He added helplessly.  
The words stung Dom. He never expected to hear those words out of anyone, and yet there they were, like a thousand knives to the heart. Dom hadn't known words could hurt so much. "Is he going to make it?"  
Brian shrugged slightly. "They don't know yet. It's kind of touch and go." Dom nodded.  
"What's gonna happen?" Mia finally choked. "Now, I mean... What's going to happen to everyone?"  
"I guess I'm going back to jail." Dom admitted out loud, something he'd been trying to avoid doing.  
"I'm going to do whatever I can to prevent that, Dom, I promise you this. I'm not testifying against any of you, and anyway whatever charges they bring against you will be lessened since you technically turned yourself in. My superiors know something's up, but I don't think I'm out of my job yet. I can still make an impact on your case."  
Dom recalled his feelings of gratefulness he'd experienced earlier when he'd thought about Brian giving up his job to help Dom and the others. Whatever he had been planning from the beginning was gone now and Brian was honestly, sincerely devoted to helping out his real friends. Such a turnaround in such a short amount of time... He only hoped Brian's loyalties were in the right place. Dom had made a lot of mistakes in his life but they didn't seem like mistakes when he was making them. In hindsight, Dom realized that he'd been wrong, what he was DOING was wrong. He got that now.  
"Thanks Brian." Dom said sincerely.  
"How can you do that? How can you just forgive him like that?!" Mia cried out. "He lied to us all, Dom! Its his fault that we're all here! We were doing just fine before he came here!" She rushed on emotionally, not even looking at Brian.  
Dom remained calm. He looked to Brian. "Hey, Bri', you mind... giving me a moment?"  
"No, of course not." Brian, concentrating on the floor, turned around and walked toward the door. "Take as long as you need, I'll be right out here." Brian walked out the door and leaned against the wall opposite, sliding down until he was on the ground. His head dropped in his hands as he wondered just what he did wrong to deserve this. The woman he loved couldn't even stand to look at him. He was doing all he could to help, but he would just have to try harder.  
  
Mia looked at Dom coldly, feeling about ready to either slap Dominic across the face or break apart. "You can't go back to jail, Dom, you can't!" She sobbed. "You can't leave me all alone. I mean, with Vince and Jesse here, and Leon and Letty who knows where, and you in jail... who will keep me going everyday? I can't live without you guys."  
"It'll be OK, Mia. I promise."  
"How can you say that? You said you never wanted to go back there. Now you have to, and its all Brian's fault!"  
"No, it's really not."  
"How can you say that? 2 hours ago you weren't willing to forgive him, but now you are. What's with the change of heart, Dom?"  
"I've done some thinking. I decided to do the right thing, Mia. I've done the wrong thing too long and its killing me, its killing all of us. Its not Dom's fault we're split up, it's our own. You can't blame him for showing us down the path of destruction because we were already racing down it ourselves, we just hadn't reached our destination yet. It was inevitable that someone would get hurt, Mia, you know that."  
"I know." Mia wiped a tear from her cheek. "I KNOW that. I know he's the good guy here, but I just don't know if I'm ready to accept that yet. I LOVED him Dom. And he was lying to me all along."  
"But he wasn't lying about one thing, Mia, and that was that he truly cares for you, for all of us. You can't just ignore that." Dom put his hands on Mia's shoulders, holding her gaze steadily. "I'm finally going to take responsibility for my actions, Mia. Now it's time for you to take responsibility for your future." Dom nodded to the hallway where he could see Brian sitting, staring blankly. "Go tell him how you feel. You two'll work it out."  
Mia stared at her big brother with the slightest air of respect before wrenching free from his grip and giving him a big hug. "I'll see you later bro', thank you for everything." With that, she turned around and made her way out into the hall. She looked down at Brian's ashamed face and slowly, his eyes met her gaze. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. "All right," She began. "Let's talk this out."  
  
Dom hovered by the door, reluctant to go in and see his friend. The police officers allowed Dom to visit his friends before they came to take him away for good. When he finally stopped lingering, Dom pushed the door open and confronted his friend.  
Vincent started a little at Dom's entrance but settled back into the bed when he saw who it was. "Dominic." He stated, not sounding as surprised as he looked. "Fancy meeting you here."  
"How's your arm?" Dom felt his face flash with guilt. He'd been told that the doctors had saved Vince's arm, but they wouldn't be able to save him from the physical and emotional scarring brought on by the wound or the trauma of the experience. Now, his injured limb was bound with a cast that was only temporary until they could bring the specialists in to take a look at it. His gunshot wound hadn't hit anything vital, but it still caused him pain every time he tried to move his leg and Dom tried not to cringe every time Vince shifted in his bed and his face briefly emitted a painful wince.  
"Oh, its a walk through a field of daisies actually." He answered sourly. Dom didn't smile, only looked guiltier. Vince didn't try to comfort him either. "What about yours?"  
Dom had almost forgotten. "Oh... well, I definetely can't complain." Dom was aware that Vince had been awake to witness the conversation going on around him when he'd been injured and no doubt he'd been told the whole story later, but so far he hadn't mentioned a word about Brian being a cop. Dom thanked Vince inwardly for not uttering the words 'I told you so' the instant their eyes had met. "Where're Letty and Leon?" Vince asked.  
"Probably halfway to Mexico by now. They left ight before the helicopter came for you."  
Vince nodded. "Why aren't you with them, Dom? Why are you here?"  
"I can't keep racing away from my problems, V. That's the coward's way out and I don't wanna be a coward anymore. Only someone who's too afraid to face life's problems would abandon his friends when they need him. I want to be here... for my family... for what really counts." Dominic's voice started to waver, something which Vince instantly caught onto. Somehow, Vince thought that this fear wasn't just due to the threat of Lompoc looming on the horizon or even guilt over Vince's predicament.  
"Dominic... what's up man? What's going on?"  
Dom dropped his head into his hands. "It's Jesse..."  
Vince bolted upright, groaning at the pain in his leg, but quickly throwing his discomfort aside. "Please tell me you're joking Dom."  
Their eyes met steadily. "Jesse came back to the house today to apologize for running after Race Wars... at the same time that Tran and his gang decided to shoot up the place. Mia, Brian and me... we're all OK, but Jesse..."  
"Is he here? Dom... Is he...?"  
"No, no he's alive, but he's still in surgery... They don't know if..."  
"I'm going to see him." Vince shoved thoughts of his injuries aside and tried to get up from the bed but Dom stood up and held him back down. "No, you need to stay here or you're going to hurt yourself more. Doctor's orders, man. They'll give ya word on Jess' when he gets out, Brian'll make sure they do."  
"Then we should go after Tran, or--"  
"Tran's dead. Brian shot him."  
Vince felt like he'd been hit with a hammer, on top of everything else. He reluctantly let himself be led back onto the bed, but he looked even less thrilled to be there now, if that was even possible. He'd looked so listless before, but now he just looked restless, like the news had sparked something in him, although his features had darkened somewhat since Dom had told him what happened.  
Their strained conversation was taking a toll on Dom and the young man wasn't sure if he could stand the guilt any longer. Vince was just as close to him as any of his honorary family members, but it was different with him than it had been with Jesse, or Leon, or Letty. Vince had also been his best friend since they were in third grade together, two little kids playing with their toy cars, before they'd stepped up to the 'big kid's toys.' Vince may have a short, violent temper and impulsive lifestyle, but he had always been Dom's closest friend. They'd spent practically their whole life together and while it hadn't been exactly conflict-free, they had never been placed in a situation this serious before. It just seemed now that their friendship could never be the same.  
Vince, reading Dom's mind like he sometimes did, finally spoke to his friend. "I don't know if anything will ever go back to normal between us, Dominic, but... if you can show me that you're truly sorry, then I think I'm ready to start forgiving you." Dom stared into his friend's dark eyes, relieved to find that they were sincere.  
"I promise, I will never misjudge you again, V. You've been my best friend since we were little, and there's no way I would ever intentionally hurt you, you know that. You, or any of our family."  
Vince nodded to show he understood, and Dom smiled in relief, but Vince's acceptance of his apology did little to quench the fears that now awaited him. "It's gonna be OK, Dom." Vince told his friend. "It's over now."  
"Its far from over." Dom answered, seeing through Vince's facade that was obviously fronted to make him feel better. He wondered how it was that Vince was hurting so much and he was comforting Dom instead of the other way around. Dom should have been bowing at Vince's feet for doubting him about his intuition about Brian. Now, it seemed that Vince had sort of forgiven Brian, and Dom as well. He couldn't thank Vince enough for raising his spirits. The nurse popped her head in to say that Dom had to leave now because Vince needed his meds. Reluctantly but obediantly, Dom got up and said his good-byes to Vince. "Feel better." He ordered on his way out.  
"Hey, Dom," Vince called out before Dom was out the door. Dominic stopped and turned back to look at his friend. "Say hi to Spilner for me, amigo."  
After leaving Vince's room, Dom headed up to the Intensive Care Unit to see Jesse. The boy was hooked up to several machines to keep him breathing and had not yet awoken or shown any signs of possibly doing so soon. The doctors left Dom alone again, which wasn't surprising because they had been leaving him alone in trust all day. 'Thanks Brian.' He thought gratefully as he pulled a chair up beside Jesse's bed.  
Dom took his 'little brother's' hand in his again, noting that while Jesse still looked pallid, at least some of the color had returned to his face. Dom stared at the teen's face, willing his bright blue eyes to open up and smile at him, just do anything to assure Dom that the kid was still alive. So far the only consolation was the steady rising and falling of Jesse's heavily bandaged chest.  
What did he ever do to deserve this? This pain not only wrought by physical wounds, but by the emotional ones of having to be alone when he was so close to death. His absentee parents could not be contacted to be with their son when he needed them most. His father most likely didn't even care. He'd probably freak more that his car had been injured than he would that his son had been. Dom always tried to protect Jesse from these kinds of things and he had failed. What kind of a brother was he anyway?  
Dom recalled how Jesse had come to him as a rebellious, fiery preteen 7 years ago, broken, bleeding and sobbing from wounds inflicted by his abusive father. Dom didn't even know Jesse then but that didn't stop him from wanting to beat the crap out of whoever had done it to the poor kid. Luckily, Jesse's dad was put into jail before Dom could really do anything to him. Jesse's father had a curt patience and dealing with Jesse's A.D.D. was not something he allowed himself to put up with. Every time Jesse did something to frustrate his father, he didn't take the time to understand his son, just took his anger out on him with fists and hurtful words. Seeing as how Jesse's mom had bolted years before, Dom took the kid in himself and Jesse became an honorary little brother, his innocent personality and designing skills making him a perfect addition to the team.  
As Dom sat there and cursed everything he could think of to blame, mostly himself, he felt a slight tremor in his hand. He looked at his hand to see Jesse's fingers moving ever so slightly. Jesse's azure, shimmering eyes fluttered open and gaped at Dom with surprise and discomfort which quickly morphed to content when he realized he wasn't being plagued by painful nightmares anymore, that this was the real thing.  
"Hey there." Dom smiled encouragingly, words failing him as he pressed a button to signal to the nurses' office that Jesse was finally awake.  
Jesse cleared his throat quietly. "Hey yourself..." He managed with a raspy and graveled voice. He suddenly noticed the sling on Dom's arm. "What happened?"  
Dom looked down at his arm. "Oh this? Just busted up my arm. Long story. Nothing you need to worry about now. Just get some rest and listen to everything the doctors tell you, OK?" Jesse nodded, his confidence in Dom never wavering.  
"Are Mia and Brian OK?"  
"Oh yeah, they're fine." It suddenly had occurred to Dom that not only was Jesse not aware of what happened to Vince and Letty at their last heist, but he was completely unaware that Brian was a cop, not that he wouldn't have asked about his well-being anyway, even if he did know. Relief flooded into Jesse's eyes and he rested a little bit easier after that. Dom hesitated before saying, "We almost lost you back there, Jess'. I... I can't stand to think of what might have happened if you hadn't come to see us then. We might not have been there to help you and..." Dom stopped, his voice catching on his words. Jesse's eyes were flooding with unshed tears. "I just... I love ya too much to lose you little bro. Don't ever scare me like that again."  
Jesse nodded again, his expression showing to Dom, without words, just how sorry Jesse really was. The next moment a nurse came into the room and told Dom he had to leave now. He had wanted to stay, at least until after Jesse had been told what was going on, but it really wasn't up to him. He waved a meek good-bye at his friend before being ushered out of the room, the door shutting behind him. Dom watched through the window as the nurse and a recently-arrived doctor tended to Jesse, checking his vitals and giving him his medication. Then Dom was being whisked away down the hall, away from his little brother, away from the life he'd known up until now.  
Something had definetely changed in Dominic Toretto's life this past month. He had a feeling that none of their lives would ever be the same. His conversation to Brian only a few weeks ago resurfaced in his mind. He'd been telling Brian why he spent almost his whole life racing, why it offered something to him that no other activity ever could. He told Brian how, at that peak of the race, it liberated him and he could break free of the hurtful reality that life offered.  
'I live my life a quarter mile at a time, nothing else matters, for those ten seconds or less... I'm free.' Dom thought. 'But when those ten seconds are OVER, you have to come back to reality and face the consequences of your reckless actions. You have to think about the things that matter in real life, your friends, your family, yourself. You have to be there for them when they need you most, or else you're not worthy of the freedom you have attained.' A person who flees when their family is in danger is only half a man and Dominic Toretto would not let himself become that person. He would stand up and take responsibility for what he did, even if it meant going back to a place that he only found in the blackest depths of his mind, a place he would forget in an instant if he was allowed the choice. He could have run. He could have bolted and found out later if Jesse made it, or if Vince was OK, or if either of them would forgive him, but he stayed, and somehow, he thought, that took more courage than running away ever would. 


End file.
